About Us

Our Mission:

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa is a spiritual community of people with shared values and diverse beliefs. We are guided by the warmth of love, the light of reason, and the call of justice. We come together to nurture meaning, hope, and reverence for the earth as we pursue a more just and compassionate world.

Who are we?

Who are you likely to find when you attend a Sunday morning service of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa?

Usually you will find between 40 and 80 people. There will be couples, including some gay couples, singles, children, seniors. If you ask any of them why they joined a Unitarian congregation, you’ll get different answers, but one thing in common will be the freedom to make up their own minds and hearts about their own authentic spiritual beliefs and practices.

We come to Unitarianism from a number of doctrinal traditions — or none at all. Some of us have moved completely beyond our religious backgrounds into wider, more inclusive belief systems such as Deism, pantheism, and religious Humanism, or into non-religious philosophies such as atheism, agnosticism, and secular Humanism, while others may still hold to some of the beliefs from their past associations. We consider the spiritual richness and diversity of Unitarianism to be a powerful resource for all of us, and our greatest strength as a spiritual movement.

Come and join us for a service, and find out if it speaks to your searching. We welcome you to visit with members during the coffee hour that follows.

UUFO History

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa held its first services in 1996.

Until recently, the Fellowship met in rented accommodation, such as Séraphin-Marion elementary school. But we are happy to have recently moved into our own permanent space at 400 McArthur Avenue!

Central to our statement of faith and practice is a commitment to find ways to express our concern for social justice, and to strive individually and collectively for a community and world that is governed by non-violence, justice, equity and compassion. Read about the history of our Social Activism, and ongoing Social Justice Activities.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa is affiliated with the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) and through the CUC with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA in the U.S.) and the International Council of International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU). More information about our many partnerships and associations may be found on the Our Partners page.

Within this broader community of Unitarians, we share, uphold, and seek to adhere to our Unitarian principles and honour the spiritual sources which inspire them.

Music In Our Fellowship

Unitarians are known for our willingness to compare and discuss our differing points of view, but one thing we all seem to agree on is that we love music!

We are quite fortunate in having several musicians within our congregation, as well as having access to a wide talent pool of guest performers throughout the Ottawa region. We also have an informal choir, the Songsters (pictured below), who frequently lead the congregation in singing at our Sunday services, and who prepare and perform songs for many occasions.

Anyone who enjoys singing is welcome to join the Songsters — the ability to read music is not a requirement, and there are no scary auditions to endure. We sing for the love of singing!